Figure 1.--This is Richard Thomas Moyan's painting "Military Maneuvering" shows barefoot Irish boys being "drilled" by English soldiers. Another painting in the same genre shows Irish recruits to the British Army returning home. Another painting shows barefoot Irish boys being "drilled" by English soldiers. This is the late 19th century when the English Army were still redcoats. As you know due to poverty the Scots and Irish had many people in the British Army. It was when Baden Powell seemed to be setting up the scouts in Ireland for a similar purpose (with World War I in the offing) that Con Markievicz fought to form Na Fianna Eireann.

Irish nationalists were frustted in the late 19th century as to the degree Ireland had been integrated into the United Kingdom. A good representation of this is the work of Irih artist Richard Thomas Moynan. We do not know a great deal about him at this time. He was born in Dublin during 1856 abd entered the Metropolitan School in 1883. Moyan was a contemporary of Roderic O'Conor. Both He and O'Conor entered the Academy in Antwerp (October 1883). They were taught by Verlat. Moyan studied at the Academy 2 years until 1885. He then moved to Paris, returning to Dublin during the late 1880's. [Kennedy] We notev paintings showing Irish men who had joined the British army returning home (figure 1). Irish boy are show as admiring these Anglo-Irish soldiers. We are not familiar with his full range of work, but the paintings we don note do not show any hint of Irish nationalism or anti-British feeling. He used French titles when exhibited his work.

The Artist

We do not know a great deal about him at this time. He was born in Dublin during 1856 abd entered the Metropolitan School in 1883. Moyan was a contemporary of Roderic O'Conor. Both He and O'Conor entered the Academy in Antwerp (October 1883). They were taught by Verlat. Moyan studied at the Academy 2 years until 1885. He then moved to Paris, returning to Dublin during the late 1880's. He used French titles when exhibited his work. [Kennedy]

Body of Work

We do not have an assessment of Moynan's body of work. We do note some charming genre scenes which provide some interesting insights on how Irish boys dressed during the late 19th century.

Depictions of British Soldiers

We note paintings showing Irish men who had joined the British army returning home (figure 1). Irish boy are show as admiring these Anglo-Irish soldiers. We are not familiar with his full range of work, but the paintings we do not note any hint of Irish nationalism or anti-British feeling in his portraits. We should stress that the red coats in his paintings are not, as an American would assume, English soldiers. Rather they are proibably Irish youth and men who had joined the British army. There were regiments formed from local recruitment and then composed of Irish, or in other areas of the United Kingdom, Welsh and Scottish volunteers. (Until World War I there was no conscrioption for military service in Britain.) The message we get here is that the Irish boys admired the British soldiers and enjoyed imitating their drill. The soldier here, almost surely Irish, may be the father of one of the boys. A reader has a bit of a different take, "I don't know Moynan's politics but it seems to me that in the "Military Maneuvers" painting the girl on the left (a lavendar seller?) is looking on in disaproval at the scene (the boy on the right looks like her brother). She could be a young Constance Markiewicz, except that Markievicz came from a wealthy family." Perhaps but it seems to us that Irish nationalism at this stage was more likely to come from the educated class. Perhaps this was a descrete way for Moynan to express disapproval. Here we need to learn more about him.

Irish Natioinalism

Irish nationalists were frustted in the late 19th century as to the degree Ireland had been integrated into the United Kingdom. A good representation of this seems to be the work of Irish artist Richard Thomas Moynan.

Sources

Created: 3:34 AM 7/21/2004
Last updated: 4:01 PM 7/21/2004